I saw this production on British television while living in England for a year as a teenager. All the strange, farcical and irreverent themes and style later associated with Russell were fully in evidence in this bizarrely comic movie. I can certainly see how it would have offended the Strauss family, since it was a cartoon like portrayal of the composer as a Nazi supporter.
I have never forgotten it, as the images were sometimes beautiful and impressive, as well as frequently so outlandish as to be absurd. I would never have seen it but for the sheer chance of living in England at the time. This was at the same time that Russell's acclaimed version of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love was playing all over London, to both controversy and praise.
When The Devils was being condemned by shocked reviewers and scandalized audiences in 1971,the descriptions I read of its wild excesses and over the top imagery and performances sounded strangely familiar, in light of the Strauss television film. Whatever you think of him, there is no denying Russell's impact on modern film and pop culture.
I have never forgotten it, as the images were sometimes beautiful and impressive, as well as frequently so outlandish as to be absurd. I would never have seen it but for the sheer chance of living in England at the time. This was at the same time that Russell's acclaimed version of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love was playing all over London, to both controversy and praise.
When The Devils was being condemned by shocked reviewers and scandalized audiences in 1971,the descriptions I read of its wild excesses and over the top imagery and performances sounded strangely familiar, in light of the Strauss television film. Whatever you think of him, there is no denying Russell's impact on modern film and pop culture.